Some of the top wrestling programs in Michigan collided at Addison High School on Saturday, as the host Division 4 No. 4-ranked Panthers held off the Division 3 No. 9 Manchester Flying Dutchmen 34-32 to win the Addison Duals Tournament.

Division 2 No. 10 Mason had pins in the final two matches to snatch third place away from the Division 4 No. 10 Sand Creek Aggies, 36-34.

Addison coach Matt Seiser's Panthers won all five of their matches, beating Sand Creek 48-22 in the semifinals after winning the preliminary meets, 40-35 over Ida, 81-0 over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and 38-20 over Monroe. Seiser declined to single out any individual, saying it was a team victory.

"This was the best we have wrestled all season," Seiser said. "Everybody came through and even if somebody did not wrestle well, somebody else was there to have his back. It was a total team effort."

Manchester won its preliminary meets 33-23 over Sand Creek, 72-9 over Blissfield and 39-13 over Monroe. The Dutchmen held off Mason in the semifinals 32-29 to set up the showdown with Cascades Conference foe Addison, and the two powerhouse programs did not disappoint spectators.

In the championship match, Manchester raced out to a 22-9 lead. However, when Dakota Keenoy picked up a pin at 189 pounds, the Panthers began their comeback.

A technical fall by Jacob Voss at 103 pounds, major decisions by Marcus Richardson at 112 and Jason Richardson at 119, and a decision by Collin Haag at 125 staked the Panthers to a 34-28 lead. Manchester narrowed the final margin when Cory Johnson took a major decision from Joey Sheldon at 130 pounds.

Monroe defeated Ida to take fifth place, and Blissfield beat SMCC 54-24 to take seventh.

Sand Creek coach Marc Spicer and Blissfield coach Andy Ford were pleased with the performances of their teams, even if they weren't as successful as they hoped. Spicer said the consolation final loss to Mason hurt, but didn't dim his team's pride.

"This was just great competition. I told our kids that this is the level we want to be at," he said. "You've got to learn from this and just keep getting better. I was very happy with the way our kids performed."

He singled out Garrett Miller and Nick Garza, who both were undefeated on the day. The Aggies beat Blissfield 73-3 and Monroe 42-34, before losing to Manchester 33-23.

In the consolation final, Mason took a 21-6 lead, but the Aggies' middle and upper weights gave Sand Creek a 34-24 lead. However, pins in the final two matches dropped Sand Creek to fourth place for the tournament.

Ford said he had told his team at practice this week that in order to build a program, they had to compete at this level.

Page 2 of 2 - "I told them to wrestle hard and to keep hustling," he said. "It was good to end the day on a positive note. It's good for the kids to see the levels of these programs."

The Royals lost to Ida 45-27 in the consolation semifinals. In the preliminaries, Blissfield also lost to Manchester 72-9 and Monroe 58-9.